Mattresses



P 1969 J. DE ARUAJO BASTOS ETAL 3,467,972

MATTRESSES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 10. 1967 UH H l l I l 1 i a m s O mam. M; b You! m m0 m ,E b @m ATTORNEY Sept. 23, 1969 J. DE ARUAJO BASTOS ETAL 3,467,972

MATTRESSES Filed July 10, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 16. 8. Joan de ARAU-JO BASTOS Joan ROBERTO RIBELRO BASTOS ATTOR NEY P 23, 1969 J. DE ARUAJO BASTOS ETAL 3,467,972

MATTRESSES Filed July 10, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS Josri deARAuJo' BASTOS Jos ROBERTO 121521120 ms'ros BY M 4W6 RNEY United States Patent 3,467,972 MAI'I'RESSES Jose de Aruajo Bastos and Jose Roberto Ribeiro Bastos, both of Rio de Janeiro, Bran'l (both of Rua da Consolacao 222, 8 /803, Sao Paulo, Brazil) Filed July 10, 1967, Ser. No. 656,621 Claims priority, application Brazil, July 12, 1966,

181,217 Int. Cl. A47e 23/00 US. Cl. 5-91 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A corrective type mattress which is made of a plurality of individual non-deformable blocklike components connected together in longitudinal and transverse rows by resilient tie-rods. The upper and lower planar surfaces of the connected blocks provide body supporting surfaces which are inflexible to forces applied perpendicular thereto while the articulated connection of the individual blocks permits raising the edges of the mattress to facilitate placing bed linens and blankets beneath the mattress when making a bed.

This invention refers to mattresses having a rigid surface, commonly known as medicinal or corrective mattresses.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved mattress which will inflexibly resist force applied perpendicularly to its upper face as occurs for example when it receives the weight of a person's body but which is flexible around its borders or edges so that the borders or edges may be raised for the purpose of covering the mattress with a sheet, bedspread or the like.

Briefly, a mattress according to the present invention comprises a structure formed by a plurality of non-deformable component elements arranged in a manner such as to define the complete mattress. Such component elements, which may be solid or hollow blocks of substantially parallelopipedal shape, are connected together by means of fastening tie-rods so that their smaller or side faces abut each other, or are slightly removed from each other, and may be separated by elastic shimming means. The arrangement is made in such a way that the mattress possesses great flexibility in all directions except in a direction perpendicular to the upper face since it must sustain the weight of a person's body, for which purpose it must be flexible. The fastening tie-rods must be such as to allow relative articulation between the referred-to component elements and elastic means are provided on the above mentioned fastening tie-rods which are designed to compensate for the greater or smaller distance between the said component elements during the relative movement between them. The structure of the mattress constructed in this manner is properly covered, upholstered andlined so as to present a conventional appearance.

The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE l'shows schematically a plan view of a mattress made in accordance with the invention, the covering, upholstery and lining of which have been partly removed in order to better illustrate the mattress structure.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation, partly insection, taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view partly in section of the corner of a mattress, showing the component elements and the means used for fastening them.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view, partly in section, similar to that of FIGURE 3 but showing the component elements and fastening means according to a modification of the invention.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation, partly in section, similar to that of FIGURE 2, but with the mattresses bent on one of the sides to show the relative position between the component elements; and

FIGURE 8 is a top plan view, partly in section, showing a component element in form of a solid block, which is another modification according to this invention.

As may be seen from the drawings the new mattress with rigid surfaces comprises a core structure made up of a plurality of component elements 10, which are substantially parallelopipedal, their upper and lower faces 11 and 12, respectively, being plane and parallel to each other and forming the upper and lower surfaces of the mattress. The component elements 10 may have elastic means secured between their side faces 13, such as foam or rubber shims 14, or the like, as shown in FIGURES l and 2. Alternatively the elastic means may comprise spiral springs 15 or the like, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. ln FIGURES 5 and 6, the side faces 13 are slightly convex in order to provide surfaces adaptable for mutual articulation of the respective component elements 10.

The component elements are arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows. which are parallel to each other and are fastened to each other by means of multiple longitudinal and transverse tie-rods 17 which fasten the component elements 10 in rows and cross substantially medially of the elements, as shown in FIGURES I, 3 and 5. In order to facilitate the articulation between the component elements 10, so as to given the mattress the desired elasticity and to permit keeping the referred-to elements permanently adjusted, the fastening tie-rods 17 are anchored on the border elements by means of spiral traction springs 18, which are tied at one end to the external wall of the element and at the opposite end to the corresponding end of the fastening tie-rod 17. As shown in the figures the fastening tie-rods may be made of wire, natural or synthetic fibre rope, metal band or cloth, as shown in FIGURE 4, or of any other suitable material.

Although the fastening tie-rods 17 are shown as connected only at their ends by means of spiral springs 18 on the component elements of the border 100, it is obvious that if desired they may be connected directly on the border elements and be provided with springs disposed intermediately, as seen in 19 of FIGURE 1.

In the attached drawings the non-deformable component elements 10 are shown in the form of box or hollow body structures, with their larger walls essentially plane and the side walls 13 plane (FIGURES I, 2 and 3) or slightly convex (FIGURES 4, 5 and 6). However, the non-deformable component elements may consist of solid blocks of lightweight, durable material, with an external configuration similar to that of the component elements 10, said blocks being pierced through from one side to the other with appropriate holes to permit insertion of Upon being assembled and fastened, the core structure is propertly covered, upholstered and lined in the usual way, at least one of its larger surfaces being covcred with a rubber foam layer 26, as shown in FIGURES 2, 4 and 6, in order to deaden the stiffness of'the mattress surface.

What is claimed:

1. A mattress having non-deformable, rigid body supporting surfaces comprising, a core structure including a plurality of identical non-deformable component elements having at least two planar faces parallel to each other and side faces connecting said planar faces, fastening means securing each of said component elements to each other at their adjacent side faces in longitudinal and transverse rows so as to provide an articulated core structure in which said planar parallel faces provide the body supporting surfaces of the mattress, said body supporting surfaces being inflexible to forces applied perpendicular thereto while the articulated arrangement of said component elements permits flexing of the edges of the mattress to facilitate the placing the marginal edges of bed coverings under the lower surface of the mattress.

2. A mattress according to claim 1, wherein shims of elastic foam material are secured between the side faces of said component elements to provide flexibility between the adjacent faces of said component elements.

3. A mattress according to claim 1, wherein spring means are secured between the side faces of said component elements to provide flexibility between the adjacent -side faces of said component elements.

4. A mattress according to claim 1, wherein the side faces of said component elements are slightly convex.

5. A mattress according to claim 1, wherein said fastening means comprises a tie-rod which passes through a plurality of component elements disposed in a row, said tie-rod being anchored at its opposite ends to the first and last external component element of such row.

6. A mattress according to claim 5, wherein said tierods of each row are anchored to the component elements by means of spiral springs to compensate for the relative displacement between the component elements of such row.

7. A mattress according to claim 1, wherein said nondeformable component elements are substantially parallelopipedal hollow blocks.

8. A mattress according to claim 1, wherein said nondeformable component elements are solid substantially parallelopipedal blocks each provided with transverse intersecting holes through which said fastening means passes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,547,840 4/1951 Smith 5352 3,188,660 6/1965 Guttman 5-91 3,242,509 3/1966 Nissen 5352 X 3,308,492 3/1967 Lovette 5-352 3,360,806 1/1968 Dunaway 5-352 X CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 5--35l, 353 

